PRINCE FREDERICK, Md. — The Housing Authority of Calvert County reviewed wins and their biggest challenges in their annual report, presented to the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) at the Nov. 18 meeting.
The Housing Authority of Calvert County operates as an independent entity under the Annotated Code of Maryland and is overseen by a board of commissioners appointed by the BOCC. The Housing Authority’s mission is to provide safe and sanitary housing to those with low or moderate incomes.
According to their presentation, the staff of the Housing Authority manages four apartment complexes, 75 single-family homes and provides 451 housing vouchers. They’ve served over 700 families and 1,900 county residents this year. The majority (69%) of funding to the Housing Authority comes from federal sources, and another 29% comes from rent payments. The Calvert County government provides 1% of funding.
Executive Director Sean Kingston said that one of the challenges they face is that wages have not kept up with the rising cost of housing. Kingston estimated that the average wage to afford a home with a 10% down payment in Calvert County is $134,000 to $138,000. This means that one in four renters are cost-burdened and essential workers in the county can’t afford housing near their workplaces.
This is one of many conversations on the ongoing issue of housing affordability in the county — while high-density housing may help provide more options, many residents disagree with this solution. And, as Commissioner Mike Hart pointed out, developers and builders are still selling those homes for prices outside the reach of lower income families anyway.
Kingston also said that the organization typically has a waitlist in the thousands and is often backed up for years. However, he also said that the team is very efficient at working through their waiting list and that many families have moved on or otherwise been removed by the time they come up. The typical time from contact to leasing is about three months.
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